MAS recognised for efforts to promote plain language

MAS has been recognised for its application of plain language in its documents at the 2022 Plain Language Awards, winning in multiple categories.

The insurer took the awards for Plain Language Legal Document for its income security policy document, best Plain Language Champion (individual or team), and best Plain Language Sentence Transformation. MAS was also a finalist for best Plain Language Turnaround for its professional life plan policy document.

Phil Belcher (pictured above), product manager for life and disability insurance at MAS and recipient of the Plain Language Champion award, said that insurance comes with its fair share of complexity and technical jargon, and MAS is applying plain language principles to its documents and wider communications, leading to higher satisfaction among the mutual insurer’s members.

“We put our members first,” Belcher said. “Making sure that our documents are super clear on what members are covered for, and when they can make a claim is just the start of MAS’s outstanding member service. Plain language is part of a culture change for MAS to strengthen the trust and confidence our members have in us. Being recognised with these awards is a testament to how far we’ve come, and the hard work put in by many staff to support plain language across MAS.”

Nicola Airey, head of brand and partnerships at MAS, said it is a particularly great year for MAS to win these awards, following the passage of the Plain Language Act in Parliament last month, which promotes the use of plain English in official documents and websites.

“It’s about working together as a team to evaluate not only the words but the design and layout of our documents to make the information more accessible,” said Airey, who spearheaded plain language efforts at MAS. “We will continue to offer training and support to enhance plain language skills and we’ll keep working on improving more of our documents.”